By Kaleb Page

In a sport world like MMA where men dominate the scene, the baddest person on the planet, no matter the division, is actually a woman.

Ronda Rousey has earned her nickname “Rowdy” convincingly throughout her fighting career that began in 2011. Another nickname I think is fitting and should be considered is “the arm collector” due to this statistic: 8 of the 10 victories Ronda has, come by way of submission due to armbar. Even though people know what is coming it seems like she has her way with them, which unanimously led to her becoming the number one pound-for-pound female fighter in the world.

It can be said that the fire behind what Ronda is doing in the women’s bantamweight division in the UFC, is fueled by her competition in Judo as a representative of the United States. Her success of winning three gold’s, two silver, and two bronze medals over various competitions came with their fair share of losses as well. Ronda had a thought during Judo that ultimately led to her crossover into the MMA scene. In an interview with Jim Rome this week Ronda said, “I did all my losing in Judo, which is a lot of the reason why I wanted to do MMA so much because no one ever beat me in Judo that I couldn’t beat in a fight.” This quote so far has been proven time and time again, with Ronda convincingly winning every fight she has been in on her way to a 10-0 record.

Another thing that separates Ronda from any other fighter in her division is her win or die attitude. In the same interview she recalled a fight against Liz Carmouche and feeling like she could die in that fight. Liz put Ronda in a tight neck crank and dislocated Ronda’s jaw in the process. However, unlike some fighters who by that point would be tapping out, Ronda’s mindset was, “I would rather break my neck than lose this fight.” She did live up to her word and defeated Liz Carmouche with her trademark armbar later in the first round.

Ronda is a female icon in the world of sports that needs more attention than she is already receiving. Her ultimate goal of course it to end her UFC career in a fashion nobody at the highest level on the women’s side has done: retire undefeated. Her next opponent is rumored to be Cat Zingano, which is in the works to take place early 2015. Another stout test for Ronda with this opponent being undefeated as well.

If I had to put money on any athlete in a competitive sport like this to go undefeated, it would be “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey. Just by the way she carries herself alone, puts her on a whole different level than any of her counterparts. Her relentless attitude and training are world-class in part to her time training as an Olympian. Even though in the world of MMA it only takes one punch, kick, or submission to end this dominating run; I just don’t see it happening. Especially when you have such a driven fighter who has only seen the second round once in her entire career; an insane number in MMA, and in the best fight league worldwide the UFC.

As to anyone else who has doubts as to why I am on the Rousey Bandwagon or as to why she could end up retiring undefeated, Ronda has a message for you: “All the ones (opponents) they bring are legitimate; I work and prepare so hard that there’s nothing they can do about it.” So if you got a challenge to bring Ronda’s way suit yourself, but don’t say I didn’t warn you already about what you are going up against.